Wipro headcount declines for 5th straight quarter, attrition falls to 10-quarter low
On suing former executives who left to join rivals, MD & CEO Thierry Delaporte says there are legal obligations to be kept by employees, which is the case across industries.
- Jan 12, 2024,
- Updated Jan 12, 2024 6:35 PM IST
IT services major Wipro’s employee headcount declined for the fifth straight quarter, ending the September-December quarter of FY2023-24 with 3,500 fewer employees and a 10-month low attrition amid a challenging IT environment where the Bengaluru-based firm reported a decline in revenue and profit on Friday.
In 2023, Wipro saw a string of exits at the senior management level, including former CFO Jatin Dalal, raising questions about leadership retention. Besides, the firm has sued Dalal for allegedly breaching a non-compete clause in his employment contract by joining rival Cognizant within 12 months of exiting Wipro.
“We are committed to our employees and we expect the same from them,” said Thierry Delaporte, CEO and Managing Director at the post-result press conference on Friday. He further said: “There is nothing absolutely unusual in the way we have dealt with every case of exit in the last quarters in Wipro. We accept that people leave organisations and there is absolutely no issue with that. There are legal obligations to be kept. It is not specific to Wipro, (but it is) there in every industry.
Wipro’s closing employee headcount declined to 2,24,401 excluding (sales& support staff) at the end of December, from 2,27,929 a quarter ago, as per results declared on Friday.
Wipro CHRO Saurabh Govil said: “Yes, headcount has come down like the previous couple of quarters (because of) demand constraint environment, driving productivity using tech, bringing in AI, improving utilisation. We believe we have enough capacity to grow. As and when demand comes, we will continue to grow. Even now for certain skills specific to technologies, we continue to hire.”
This is in line with other major IT services firms have witnessed. In the December quarter, a net 5,680 employees left TCS and 6,101 left Infosys, as per their results announced on Thursday. The top three IT Services giants TCS, Infosys and Wipro have seen their employee headcount cumulatively reduced by more than 15,000 people during the recently concluded quarter.
In the July-September quarter, TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech’s witnessed a total net employee reduction of more than 21,000 amid macroeconomic headwinds and a reduction in their growth forecasts for FY24.
Wipro’s voluntary (trailing twelve months) attrition declined to 12.3 per cent in the December quarter – a 10-quarter low. Infosys’ attrition fell to a 12-quarter low of 12.9 per cent, while TCS’s 13.3 per cent was the lowest in nine quarters. This is in sharp contrast to two years ago when the IT majors saw record high 20 per cent-plus attrition rates as the demand for tech talent had surged in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wipro saw a nearly 12 per cent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,694 crore. Additionally, the consolidated revenue experienced a 4.4 per cent decrease, amounting to Rs 22,205 crore.
Also Read: HCL Tech Q3 results: Net profit up 6% on YoY basis; Rs 12 per share dividend announced
IT services major Wipro’s employee headcount declined for the fifth straight quarter, ending the September-December quarter of FY2023-24 with 3,500 fewer employees and a 10-month low attrition amid a challenging IT environment where the Bengaluru-based firm reported a decline in revenue and profit on Friday.
In 2023, Wipro saw a string of exits at the senior management level, including former CFO Jatin Dalal, raising questions about leadership retention. Besides, the firm has sued Dalal for allegedly breaching a non-compete clause in his employment contract by joining rival Cognizant within 12 months of exiting Wipro.
“We are committed to our employees and we expect the same from them,” said Thierry Delaporte, CEO and Managing Director at the post-result press conference on Friday. He further said: “There is nothing absolutely unusual in the way we have dealt with every case of exit in the last quarters in Wipro. We accept that people leave organisations and there is absolutely no issue with that. There are legal obligations to be kept. It is not specific to Wipro, (but it is) there in every industry.
Wipro’s closing employee headcount declined to 2,24,401 excluding (sales& support staff) at the end of December, from 2,27,929 a quarter ago, as per results declared on Friday.
Wipro CHRO Saurabh Govil said: “Yes, headcount has come down like the previous couple of quarters (because of) demand constraint environment, driving productivity using tech, bringing in AI, improving utilisation. We believe we have enough capacity to grow. As and when demand comes, we will continue to grow. Even now for certain skills specific to technologies, we continue to hire.”
This is in line with other major IT services firms have witnessed. In the December quarter, a net 5,680 employees left TCS and 6,101 left Infosys, as per their results announced on Thursday. The top three IT Services giants TCS, Infosys and Wipro have seen their employee headcount cumulatively reduced by more than 15,000 people during the recently concluded quarter.
In the July-September quarter, TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech’s witnessed a total net employee reduction of more than 21,000 amid macroeconomic headwinds and a reduction in their growth forecasts for FY24.
Wipro’s voluntary (trailing twelve months) attrition declined to 12.3 per cent in the December quarter – a 10-quarter low. Infosys’ attrition fell to a 12-quarter low of 12.9 per cent, while TCS’s 13.3 per cent was the lowest in nine quarters. This is in sharp contrast to two years ago when the IT majors saw record high 20 per cent-plus attrition rates as the demand for tech talent had surged in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wipro saw a nearly 12 per cent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,694 crore. Additionally, the consolidated revenue experienced a 4.4 per cent decrease, amounting to Rs 22,205 crore.
Also Read: HCL Tech Q3 results: Net profit up 6% on YoY basis; Rs 12 per share dividend announced